Turning the page
When it came to ending my pro career in 2010, there was never any grand plan over what I would do next. I didn’t know whether I would stay in cycling and I certainly wouldn’t have predicted being the manager and DS of the team of Marianne Vos three years later.
When the end came, I’m glad to be able to say that it was on my own terms. I went public about calling it a day during the 2010 Tour de France and it was good to have a finishing line of the Geelong Worlds later that year to be able to work towards. If you’re not the lead rider in your team, it’s often the case that there comes a time when you become surplus to requirements and someone else decides for you. I wanted to avoid that.
I’m happy I can say that my final year was my best. Okay, I went out at a time when my physical and mental level was still very good but I was able to choose my moment. There comes a time when your focus and motivation is affected. Little things, such as bad weather, start to annoy you where they didn’t before. It starts slowly, a small bit of focus here and there, but it adds up. I wanted to be able to look in the mirror and say to myself I did everything I could until the end. When I’d given myself that end line, in Geelong, it made it so much easier to focus, and I was so glad my career didn’t just peter out and finish with a whimper. At the Worlds, I finished sixth in the time trial and was riding for a medal in the road race until the last kilometre, so I went out at the top of my game. But I was only able to do it with the extra energy given to me by having that finish line to aim at.
Aft er my brief role in communications, I’ve
found my second career as a manager. It ’s a demanding job
but it’s also fun
For me, the hardest thing about retiring was finding a new challenge that would be as fulfilling. Initially, I went into a couple of years in a communications role with the team I retired with, Rabobank. Almost two years later, and by accident, I met with Marianne’s team at the Valkenberg Worlds. They had just signed with Rabobank for 2013 and they needed a sports director, as Jeroen Blijlevens was heading to the men’s team, and they asked me if I was interested. It was a surprise, and it wasn’t something I’d been thinking about. Then again, while in the communications role I’d found myself missing the daily contact with riders and the ability to influence the team’s direction. Though my plan was sketchy, I had specifically chosen not to become a sports director immediately. Perhaps the opportunity to become a DS would never come again, having made that choice but initially I wanted to come at the sport from a different point of view and get to know more parts of the organisation and how it worked. But I st arted to notice things going on with the team I didn’t like, particularly with two riders at the Tour in 2012, and I found it frustrating that my job prevented me from any kind of sway on that situation. It became an itch I wanted to scratch and the chance with the women’s team was my way to do it. At the start it was a DS role but after the big bang at Rabobank, it’s evolved into a manager’s position, too.
After my brief role on the communications side, I can say I’ve found my second career as a team manager. It’s a demanding job but it’s also fun. The challenges are the same as on a men’s team but having fewer staff, fewer riders and for the most part a single race programme makes it all closer knit. It’s ‘all hands on deck’, a case of everyone being in it together. For instance, during our Alicante training camp in February, the soigneurs washed the bikes because the mechanics had been out with us during team time trial training. Everybody knows what is going on each step of the way.
I ride with the girls a lot. I have to be careful with anything over two hours these days, because that’s when I get vulnerable, so I have to ride smart. But it’s the best place for me to pass on my knowledge. If you’re getting into the small coaching details, you can see immediately everything they are doing, both good and bad, and can address it immediately without having to wait until the end of the session. It’s good to be able to do that.
I still love to ride and I love the cycling scene. I’m very happy. After such a great adventure in my first career, I’m glad to be able to say I’m having also having a great time in my second.